Rivers winding
by Yumi Reitenshi
Summary: She's all grown up now and has forgotten everything about the spirit world. Now, author for a living Chihiro stumbles on another story waiting to happen. And yet again she's the main character. Kohaku/Chihiro/OOC. first spirited away story!
1. Chapter one

~ Hey guys I have decided to redo this whole story now that school is officially over for me, and this time I am going to finish it {no promises!} I want to thank you all who have favorite and reviewed, you're awesome!

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: My lawyers told me, and I quote "we will not help you win a petty case over who owns a fictional character." So I'm out of a hot sexy man beef cake and a quarter million dollars… lucky me.

_Once upon a time in a world not that far away, lived a river dragon._

_In all actuality, the world wasn't that far away it was close enough to touch, taste, and smell. The river dragon was a lonely little boy who lost his name to an evil witch who owned a bath house. Day in and day out he would work for her and run all of her errands. One day a little girl accidently stumbled into this world. She was hopelessly lost and her parents had turned into pigs, she had no idea what to do. So the little boy decided to help her find her way back the best way he could, he never realized that she could help him also until she discovered his real name! _

_ In the end, the little girl had to leave that world with her parents and promise the little boy that she would never come back. She sadly forgot about her whole adventure when she reached the end of the tunnel. The little girl's parents from then on told her the story as a fairy tale to help her sleep. But one night, her parent's left her for good. They passed away in a car accident and the little girl was all alone again. _

_ The only thing she could do was cry until her heart broke. She ran through the forest as fast as she could, she had to try to find the portal and ran right into the arms of the river dragon that was waiting for her to bring her back. Her fairy tale ending came true and she found her true love._

Chihiro stopped tapping at the computer key board for a second. Yet again this story sounded familiar and this time it was not because of her mother repeating it as a bed time story over and over again. It felt as though she lived it but the names and faces would not come to her. She bit at her bottom lip and decided not to finish the chapter tonight. She clicked her computer off and ran her fingers though her hair in annoyance. She stretched her arms up way above her head and yawned, this book had gotten to her. She didn't sleep well unless a good amount of work had been done and her boss wanted it on his desk before next month. The stress took the shine out of her hair and the child's sparkle out of her eyes. When she decided to take English and writing as her major, she first thought it was a fantastic idea. But now she had her doubts. It sucked being a writer without an ending to a story because it ate at you until it was completely finished.

Chihiro sighed out and defeated, she made her way to the kitchen for her third cup of coffee tonight. She didn't even bother lifting her head when she heard the front door of her apartment open.

"Chihiro, I know you're in there hiding like a hermit." Her lips stretched into a smile. She knew exactly who it was before he stepped in. A mass of brown hair peeked in smirking. Her neighbor from across the hall Yukio was a nice guy at times, he would always pop in at any given moment and treat her like a princess. The only problem was he was in love with her.

She didn't feel the same way.

"Hey Yukio what have you been up to?" Chihiro had asked while jumping down off of her counter and walking across the room to hug him. She could smell grass mixed into his usual musky scent and even before she could ask, he answered her.

"I just got back from a construction site. You know that river you've told me about? Well they're restoring it back to its natural state." He said with a bit of a growl when releasing her. Chihiro was taken back, Yukio only did that when he was jealous over something, was there another woman he didn't tell her about? She just put her hands on her hips and sighed. "Is there something bothering you?"

Just like that his mood changed back, a cocky grin slid over Yukio's lips. "Nope, there's nothing wrong at all. She wanted to stare him down to get him to talk but was mentally drained from the long day.

"Well in that case tell me about it when the project is officially done. Maybe in the spring we can have a picnic there." She said with a tired smile and put her hand on his chest to push him out of her apartment. "Until then I'm going into hibernation."

"Why don't we go now?" That caught her by surprised, it was so fast she didn't even noticed that Yukio was escorting her out of her apartment. "The fresh air would be good for you my sad little hermit."

Chihiro rolled her eyes; she knew she couldn't push the big lug out of the way and rush back to her apartment in time before he caught her again so she decided to go along with it. "Alright, but let's try to get back here before the midnight it's already 10." She said while tying her hair back with her lucky purple band. She had it ever since she moved with her parents. Something told her to always keep it around even though she never found the reasoning behind it.

Before she could say another word, Yukio had the elevator door opened and waiting. A smile formed on her lips, she really wished she could love the man in front of her. But she always felt as though there was someone else out there waiting for her. She tried to picture him time and time again but the only thing she could come up with was glowing green eyes. Maybe she did need to get her head out of the clouds and see exactly what was in front of her. Chihiro leaned a bit closer to Yukio and closed her eyes in content.

Yeah, this was exactly what she needed.

Kohaku paced around a large black oak desk. His dark green eyes bore into the ground while his finger nails practically ripped his palms apart. He could hear the commotion outside from the celebration but he couldn't find it in himself to be happy.

"You know, all of that stress isn't healthy for you my dear little dragon." A quiet voice stopped him in his tracks and his eyes bore into her hazel ones. She was tinier then all of the other Gods and Goddesses he has met over the years but that never stopped him from respecting her. The small woman silently picked at the embroidery of her pure white kimono. Her long grey hair was plaited very loose down her back. She smiled softly at the now owner of the bath house. He had gotten taller and even more handsome while aging. She already knew the problem even before he went back to pacing that the little girl who fell in the river a mere 18 years ago was still on his mind.

"Kohaku, stop that before we have to replace that floor again." Thy said without even looking up at him. "You could go see her at any time you know, especially after your river is finished being restored on the other side." She did not even flinch when a box was thrown in her direction and collided with the wall. She continued to pick at her clothes on the pillows close to the roaring fire that seemed to never go out.

Kohaku sighed in frustration, he never wanted to hurt his mistress but she knew exactly where to press his buttons. He watched her stand from her seat and felt the front of his robes being pulled by magic towards the door.

"Kohaku, why do you have to be so stubborn?" Thy asked in a hushed voice before pulling the door open. "Come now and let me prove my point, I bet she misses you just as much as you miss her."

"That's impossible my lady, she doesn't even remember me." He said in a defeated voice when walking into the elevator. "I made sure of that when she left this world the first time." Kohaku turned to the smaller dragon and noticed that she was as still as a stone. A feared look passed over her face before it relaxed back into a smile.

"You know, I change my mind. You're completely right, why don't we get some shaved ice instead." Thy said with the sweetest smile she could muster up, that was sign alone that something was wrong.

"What's wrong my lady, do you have to leave?" Kohaku began to ask before he felt it to. A fierce growl began to build deep in his chest. Another dragon was moving into his territory without his permission and he needed to stop him. When the elevator stopped he took off, he didn't care if anyone watched him morph into his original form, and he just had to get there as fast as he could. He didn't even hear Thy's voice when she shouted for him to stop.

Hello again!  
I hope you review and tell me if this is better than the original or I'm just stalling and need to finish it for Christ sake!


	2. Chapter two

~Hello again! I was hoping that I could post two chapters in one day but that may not happen. Anyway, as I said I am enjoying the change and I pray you are too! Let's get on with the show.

Disclaimer: If you are a big "Toy story" fan then you would have noticed Totoro in Bonnie's bed room as one of the toys, if you haven't then check again! Disney are complete geniuses, I am not.

The air was crisp when Chihiro breathed it in; the walk had done her good in the long run. She felt as though all of the stress from writing had been lifted off of her shoulders. She could of ran a marathon if she wanted to with ease… okay that might have been pushing it but the clear feeling in her head put her at rest.

She could hear Yukio laughing behind her. "See, I knew this would make you feel even better." He said with a smile, she turned to look into his brown eyes. It was as if he knew how to make life easier for her. Chihiro nodded her head with a smile.

"Thank you Yukio, I guess you were right." She said when bending down to touch the water. It was icy and cool on her finger tips and it sent a shiver up her spine. "The only thing I really needed was a break." She enjoyed the feeling of the water on her skin so she leaned down closer to it and nearly fell in. The only thing that stopped her was Yukio's hand on her shoulder.

"Whoa now be careful. I think it's a bit too cold to take a swim." He said while tugging her back but she didn't budge.

A hand grabbed hers from under water and wouldn't let go.

Chihiro tugged with all of her might to try to get loose but every time she pulled, it pulled even harder.

"I must be stuck in the mud." She said with uneasiness, even she didn't believe that. She didn't have time to scream, she only had the chance to close her eyes before it pulled her all the way under. It wasn't as bad as Chihiro thought it was going to be, the water was not to cold.

A force held on to her though and embraced her tightly, she felt safe and happy for the first time in months. She cracked open one of her eyes to see two emeralds staring back at her. Those emeralds were attached to a man who was grinning from ear to ear. He planted a kiss on her forehead and it brought shivers down Chihiro's spine.

_ "I have missed you."_ His lips didn't move but Chihiro could hear him. She wanted to ask him how did her know her but she knew he was the man in her dreams; maybe this was yet another one of them. She opened her mouth to speak but the air escaped from her lungs. She struggled in his arms and fought when he pressed his mouth on hers. He didn't let up until she stopped trashing and when she did he began to breathe for her. Chihiro felt light headed, this was not like any experience she'd ever had, and it was perfect. She gracefully wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed in content. She could stay like this forever. The lightheadedness made her drowsy and she was asleep within minutes. Chihiro didn't even feel herself being pulled out of the water.

Kohaku stepped out of his river as carefully as he could so as to not wake the sleeping woman in his arms. He had missed her touch and smile so he was happy to have such little time with her. He placed Chihiro into Yukio's waiting arms with a scowl on his face. When he had arrived, he was more than ready to fight tooth and nail with the man in front of him but he was honorable enough to back away especially with Chihiro there.

"Why did you bring her here Yukio?" There was no tremble or emotion in Kohaku's voice when he asked. He almost took back the truths when the man cocked his head back to laugh.

"To show off what I have and what you do not." Yukio's brown eyes sparkled with untold laughter; he turned to leave but was held by an unseen force. "We both know that your powers have been drained the moment you stepped onto my land." Kohaku was launched back by a powerful gush of wind and he landed in his river. He tried to surface again but something was pulling him down farther and farther. He looked at his ankle where he felt the tugging, he snapped at it but it wouldn't let go. At last he broke the surface on the other side. When Kohaku looked to see what exactly was pulling him he was face to face with Thy's smiling face. In her hands was a fishing pole.

"It is true; you can catch dragons with this thing." She said while cutting the line and standing to help him out. "This in an interesting predicament, how are we going to handle it?"

Kohaku made a face of terror when he grabbed her hand. "What do you mean my lady?" He hated when he had to get her involved in such things, though she had said she didn't mind time to time it made him feel less independent.

Thy sighed out softly and she brushed some of his wet hair back from out of his eyes. "We both despise that Yukio and he doesn't belong in the mortal world, besides Chihiro may be in danger."

Kohaku should have known better, Yukio was an earth dragon whose territory was close to his river. The two have been feuding for years before he left to work at the bath house. Thy knew exactly what the problem was even though the two never realized it. Earth and water could never get along; they fought constantly for more space. "Also she doesn't belong there." She added when turning her head to see what was behind her. Kohaku had never noticed it before because it was nothing more than a stream now. But with time another river was going to form close to his and even merge at a few points. He shot her a questioning look and Thy just shrugged her shoulders.

"The lords must be planning to add another river." Kohaku nodded his head and groaned under his breath, he hopped that this new arrangement wouldn't give him another enemy.


	3. Chapter three

Authors note: Okay, here's another redid chapter. I know I said I was going to update sooner. But as you can see that did not happen at all. But good news is that I got into the college I've wanted to go to and is very active there. So "yippy" for being a Penn State student, I'm going to complete my New Year's resolution bit by bit so please bear with me. With your help, I can do this I know I can.

Disclaimer: I've always wanted to own Spirited away, one can dream!

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Chapter 3:

The next morning was nice and sunny, for others maybe but not for the dark haired woman sleeping soundly in her own bed. Chihiro turned over on her other side to escape the evil sun shine happiness. After about five minutes of trying to fall back to sleep she gave in and sat up.

A headache was pounding at her temples as she rolled out of bed and stretched. She didn't even remember climbing into bed or even coming home last night. She made her way out of her room and towards the greatest thing in the world, Coffee.

She didn't expect Yukio to be there, sitting on top of her clean counter. Eating her eggs and bacon, and drinking her coffee.

"Morning" He murmured and passed her a cup which she immediately grabbed and took a sip, it was honestly heaven in liquid form.

"What are you doing here so early?" Chihiro arched one of her eyebrows up and passed him to pop a few pieces of bread into the toaster. He shrugged at her then stuffed another piece of bacon in his mouth.

"You fell asleep when I brought you home last night; I have a fee you know, one breakfast per piggy back ride." She chocked a little on her last sip of coffee. So it all wasn't just a mere dream the night before that man really did walk on top of the river!

Chihiro turned to Yukio with an evil grin on her face which made the dragon shiver a bit. "Get out."

"Excuse?" He was a little stunned; she had never said anything like that to him. Well unless she was joking. She grabbed his plate out of his hands and dropped it into the sink. When she turned back to him the grin turned into a smile. "Leave, I have work to do."

Yukio hopped off the counter and took his leave, cursing under his breath. "Stupid writers and their inspirations." He didn't even have the chance to wish her goodbye before the door slammed in his face.

Chihiro immediately set to work on her computer. The dream was still fresh in her mind, especially the dark haired man with the beautiful green eyes. She didn't even realize she was typing in her password to her lap top because her thoughts were surrounded on him. Her reader's minds would defiantly be blown away after this.

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He absolutely hated when she did this. The woman was over 9 centuries old for Christ sake! She shouldn't be able to disappear that fast. There was a loud knock at the door and Kohaku waved a finger for it to open magically.

Lin just stood there yawning, she has been looking for Thy for the last few hours and her beauty sleep hours were decreased drastically. She hasn't changed a bit after all of the years she had worked in the bathhouse. Well not her personality, on the outside she was more respected by her peers and worked on the upper levels then down on the bath tub floor.

"No luck she's gone. Told you, you should have put a leash on her." She said with a yawn whist walking to the dragon's desk to snag a cigarette from the chest, Lin lit a flame with her forefinger to light it. Without Yubaba's contracts, the workers were able to regain their memories and their use of magic.

"You shouldn't say that about your superiors." Kohaku murmured and massaged his temples. Thy knew exactly how to push his buttons. She was the only God who he knew that would disappear for such a period of time. Many spirits knew that she could go away for decades, even centuries if she had nothing else better to do.

Lin waved him off and cracked her neck. "Well ring if you need anything, God forbid." She stared to the door to continue her search without the bath house.

"Lin, do you miss Sen at all?" His question stopped her in mid turn and she just cocked her head back and stuck her tongue out at him.

"What's it to you dragon?"

"I just wanted to know your position in this situation." Lin rolled her eyes and closed the door behind her, signaling the end to the whole conversation.

Kohaku leaned back in his office chair and sighed, Yukio's words were still fresh in his mind. The earth dragon had something in his possession that he needed back dearly or at least know it was in good hands. He still hasn't come up with an effective way on how to handle this or how he was going to pull it off, but one way or another. That filthy lizard will never see the light of day ever again.

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Thy sat back in a very comfortable easy chair smirking, on the table was a scroll that listed almost every noble hearted spirit in the world giving their promises to the Goddess that they would help out in any way possible. The high Lord at last removed his reading glasses and nodded, signing his name on the last line.

"Thank you my Lord." She stood and bowed her head low. It wasn't every day that the high Lord would do such a outrageous thing such as this.

"Now humor me Thy, what do you have planned?" The young man who looked no older than 10 grinned at her, she already knew he had everything already worked out in his head and that she was just a pawn in his game of life. She readjusted her kimono and smiled back at the God. "But sire, I wouldn't have known if you didn't will me to know." He threw back his head to laugh at the girl.

"A banishing of course." She couldn't get the last word out before lightning streaked the sky. When the Lord was finishing giggling, he looked at her with a sincere gaze. "You're time here is getting shorter each day, I'm going to miss you being around." His eyes sadden when the girl squirmed in her seat.

"It won't be for long like the last time." Thy didn't even look up at her Master.

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Yumi Reitenshi-

Thank you for reviewing!


	4. Chapter four

Authors note: See, I'm really trying really badly this time. We're going to get there this time!

Disclaimer: When you wish upon a star.

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Chapter 4:

When the first crack of lighting hit the human world Chihiro practically jumped out of her skin. She peeked out of the window to see it raining hard, harder than usual. She grimaced a little, she hated when it rained. Everything became slow and drained of all color. Umbrella's littered the streets and cars splashing unknown victims.

Chihiro stopped typing and decided to have lunch. The idea of calling Yukio over to entertain her crossed her mind but it seemed like a bad idea at the time. After picking through her fridge for almost 15 minutes to find something to eat, she found nothing and settled for ramen.

Boredom began to creep in. Chihiro decided to start back on her computer again; she started from where she left off before. She began to drum her fingers on the keyboard, this book started to get to her. She had this _great_ idea of adding a new bad guy but what would be so special about him? Would he try to kidnap the poor little heroin on the human side and bring her back to the spirit world? Or would the dragon boy bring her back himself. She was so close to pulling her hair out from this stupid book it wasn't even funny.

"Well if I do make a new character, what would he be like?" She dropped her head back and banged it on her chair.

"Ouch.…" Chihiro rubbed the back of her head. "He could take after Yukio but he'll probably kill me if he knew about this."

That would have been perfect to; Yukio should have been in a book because of his attitude. He was always upset or jealous about something or another. Chihiro blew her bangs out of her face, _absolutely perfect_. But, he would gut her life a fish when he found a bad guy was named and personalized after him.

Her fingers and mind betrayed her when she began to type out on another page a description of this new character. He had sandy brown hair and puppy dog, brown eyes as her good friend. She decided he was going to be a dragon like her hero of the story; the little twist was that they have been fighting for centuries. Chihiro bit down on her lip while she typed. To hell with Yukio, this character was going to be in this book if she had any say in the matter.

She looked out the window; the rain still hasn't stopped just yet. The weird thing was Yukio still wasn't there bugging her as usual or turning out the lights and making her believe they had a power shortage.

_Boom_

There went her luck again; the power went out in her apartment room. Thank Moses she saved her work and put a new battery in her laptop before the lights went out. The glow from the screen radiated her living room.

"Why is it always me?"

She stood from her office chair and searched around for a flashlight or a match or even a glow worm to help her see. Chihiro even thought about looking out in the hallway to see if the electric blew out in the whole building.

More lighting struck outside which made her jolt up in fright. Only thing she could think about at the moment was _where the hell Yukio was when she needed him the most_. She smiled when she at last found her trusty flashlight and turned it on. Everything looked different in her library of an apartment when it had a shape shift spot light on it.

Her bookshelves that were filled to the brim gave off a weird shadow when she pointed the light at it and she even tripped on a few of her rough drafts on different pieces she was working on.

The storm sounded like it was getting closer because the lighting and thunder became louder and louder. She made herself to the door and defiantly wasn't ready for what was behind it.

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A large brown-scaled dragon with green eyes made its way to the spirit world opening. Even through the rain it took him almost an hour to reach his destination. He stopped right in front of the old amusement park and transformed into his human form. He shook out his hair to get all of the rain water which stuck to the strands though it still plastered itself to his forehead.

"Long times no see Yukio; have you been good while playing in the human world?" A small girl in a silver embroidered kimono sat on the two faced statue. Thy gave him a smirk before pulling back her sleeves to extract the letter which was kept there. "Yukio, you are a ordered by the Gods of the other realm to leave here."

He sighed a little and turned to her. "You know you didn't have to go through this much trouble if you wanted me back so badly."

"Don't flatter yourself." Thy said flatly and jumped down from her spot, her long bangs covered her left eye as she slowly walked closer to the man, sadly enough she didn't even come up to his shoulders. He laughed then patted the short Goddess on her head.

Yukio bent his head down low and kissed her temple. "You could have just asked me to come back, and then you wouldn't have to go through this kind of trouble."

Thy cringed from his touch, "well I would of, if you didn't change so severely." She still had a grip on his collar when she pulled away. "Now go back, there's nothing else here for you."

He covered her hand with his, "One question, why did you send that idiotic water dragon after me?"

"I didn't, you just happened to be there at that moment of time. I sent him here so he could see his human again." She pushed him into the tunnel and waved goodbye. "Now be good while I'm gone, there's something else I have to do before I leave."

Yukio eyed her before catching her hand once more and twirled her around. "You know making him happy is the stupidest idea you've ever had."

_Always the jealous one, _Thy smiled slightly "everyone should have the chance to be," She gasped when he kissed her right on the lips without any hesitation. She pushed him back and softly touched her lips before walking away wide eyed and when she was far enough away she transformed into a white dragon. Thy turned her body completely the other way and flew into the sky.

Yukio smirked and passed all the way through the portal. He strolled through the meadow and stepped over the little stream. These new arrangements weren't exactly what he wanted but he could alter them to his advantage. He snickered when remembering the look and blush on Thy's face after kissing her. Oh yes, these arrangements were going to change drastically.

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Yumi Reitenshi-

Thank you!


	5. Chapter five

Author's note: Actually, this time I have nothing to say since this is going back to back in one day.

Disclaimer: My lawyers told me, and I quote "we will not help you win a petty case over who owns a fictional character." So I'm out of a hot sexy man beef cake and a quarter million dollars… lucky me.

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Chapter 5:

Chihiro stumbled back into her apartment and dropped her flashlight, she began to breathe rapidly and her eyes widened in fear. There was nothing there outside the door except for remains of other apartment rooms. Not only did the storm shut off the lights, it tore off the roof and the entire 14th floor!

Winds threatened to throw her up into the air and carry her right off the apartment building newly formed rooftop. She scrambled back into her room but when she turned around, it was missing too only thing that was left was the door frame. All of her papers, books, house hold appliances and electronics blew right away. There was nothing left for her to grab onto, she hugged herself closer to the ground and prayed to every spirit she could think of.

She closed her eyes as tightly as she could and tried to slow down her hastily beating heart. She knew she was going to die. Whether the winds were going to push her over the side or lighting was going to strike her down, her life was going to end here and now.

Chihiro yelped loudly and even let a few tears fall when lightning struck one of the poles still standing. Scratch that, she was going to die from a heart attack.

So this was the fate chosen for her? Yes she joked around saying she was going to die in her apartment with 10 cats after living a boring life of writing and watching sappy love movies. But dying like this was just irony to the highest level. She technically was still in her apartment with no lover to cherish, just a best friend who bugged the crap out of her. That's when the feeling of never taking her chances of finding someone to love her or getting married hit her.

_No one was there to wrap their arms around her to keep her safe. _

She could hit herself, all the times Yukio asked her out… she should have taken the chance. Now he was gone in the wind. More tears fell, not from fear but from sorrow. She lost all of her worldly possessions, friends, hopes and promises.

She would miss his laughter, his rants, his anger and the loving look he always gave her when he busted through her door unannounced.

She also would have loved to see the Kohaku River in the spring with Yukio, the cherry blossoms would have just bloomed and their sweet smell drifting in the air.

Chihiro lifted her head in amazement. She remembered the name of the river! She smiled a little and giggled. Even in the worst of times, her optimism showed through.

"What are you laughing about?" A soft voice whispered through the storm. It was as though its presence quieted the rain until it sounded like the back ground music in a play. Chihiro turned her head and gasped.

A small silver haired woman leaned against one of the poles sticking out of the ground. Her hazel eyes and soft smile warmed Chihiro's heart and she felt safe even in her predicament. But what made her laugh even harder was what the woman was wearing.

Thy was clad in a whole aviator costume complete with the helmet, goggles and scarf that blew in the wind. She was always someone who loved to make a big appearance so she wasn't surprised when Chihiro looked her over a couple of times.

She watched as the brown headed girl stood from her spot and her smile widened even more, Chihiro trusted her with her life at this moment.

The winds could have knocked her off the roof top at any time but that didn't stop her from walking up to the silver haired girl and poking her right in the stomach.

"You're real?" Chihiro practically screamed. She thought her mind began to formulate images in her last minutes of life. Her fear returned when the woman laughed at her awkwardness

"Of course I'm real." Thy patted her on the head and looked over her shoulder to the tornado heading their way. "I'm here on a very special mission too."

Chihiro almost fainted when she peered over Thy's head at what was heading their way. "What's going on here?" This was making no sense at all. First the thunder storm, then the apartment, now a tornado? Was the world out to get her?

Thy nodded as though she had heard her thoughts "You're being banished. Your world doesn't want you here anymore, and it's using all means to get rid of you…" She snickered at Chihiro's confused and frightened face.

"Get rid of me?" She hugged closer to the girl when another lightning bolt fell from the sky and struck the building not even a full foot away from her.

Again Thy nodded and wrapped an arm around Chihiro's small frame "That's why I'm taking you away."

"Where are we headed?" Chihiro couldn't even get a whole sentence out before her small companion began to laugh.

"To the world you belong in. Still don't remember do you?" Thy grabbed onto her hand and softly stroked it. "Try to remember a sweet old lady who had a twin." Chihiro shook her head; nothing was coming to her at all. "How about a woman clad in pink who practically became an older sister to you." Thy sighed in defeat when she shook her head again. That would be something she would remember.

That's when it hit her.

"What about this, do you remember a sweet loving boy who could turn into a dragon?"

Chihiro was taken back. There was no one in her life like that. Well except in her…

"Do you mean dragon boy from my novel?"

Thy nodded, though she had no idea what novel she spoke of, or that the thought alone wasn't hitting home. She squeezed Chihiro's hand a little harder.

"Would you like to meet the characters of your story?"

Chihiro rolled her eyes; it was just a bed time story. She felt herself being pulled closer to her small companion and stiffened up. She could feel Thy's small body shape itself into a monster of some type. She didn't even get a good luck of what she turned into before she was nestled up close to its scales. She could feel herself fall then the wind blew at her back.

She was flying.

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Yukio made his way toward his mountain in human form. Oh how he missed his own bed and clothes. Living in the human world was great for a while but nothing was better than home.

_Home_

It sounded weird, for the last 3 years he has called that apartment complex home and the girl next door his soon to be mate or whatever they call it in the human world. Yukio shook his head and flew to the top of the mountain where his fortress stood.

It was made out of pure stone that withered away with time. It was still as strong as the day he had build it but the polished black stone still chilled the bones of any spirit that dared pass his territory.

The only one who has had the guts to stand up to he had to be the damned river which flowed below his mountain.

Kohaku has always gotten what he has wanted and that's what pissed him off the most.

When he first lost his river, he was taken in by the bath house as a worker and was even paid for it. After Chihiro left for the first time, he found his name he begged to Yukio's ex lover to help him break it. When he needed to learn how to make his own magic stronger, Thy took him in as her apprentice for 12 freaking years and taught him everything she knew. Afterwards she even went to the human world and found another way for his river to flow, and now it was one of the biggest rivers covering Japan!

But this time it was going to be different. This time he would have all the glory at the end.

Yukio slammed the doors of his home closed and plopped down on the couch. After living in the human world for quite some time he had let a few of the old traditions go and adapted new American furniture for his living space.

He ran his hands through his hair, missing the way Thy did it and dropped his head back. His diabolical planning could wait until tomorrow. What was the rush?

As they say, everything was better when you wait longer for it.

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Kohaku watched what was happening on the human side through a bowl of water. His eyes hardened when he watched his poor Chihiro cried on the roof of her apartment when lightning strike the ground close to where she was laying. He almost leapt out of his seat when the water went black and stopped the images from being seen. He would of went to the human world himself but all of his strength was drained from the last visit. Even though he didn't like it, but Yukio had to take of her for a while longer before he gained his strength back enough to bring her back here himself.

He didn't care if Chihiro didn't remember him. She didn't need too after he cast a memory whipping spell when she first walked through the portal to back home. But now she could come home to his waiting arms. She didn't have to stay there anymore and they could be together.

Kohaku rose from his seat when Thy walked through the door sighing. She had put on her normal clothes but didn't have a chance to run a brush through her wild unruly hair.

"There you are. Where have you disappeared to?" He was a little surprise that she actually came back. Usually she would leave for months at a time. He crossed his arms; she had to be up to something.

Thy smiled softly and played with the hair that fell over her shoulder. "I've been busy in the human world" Kohaku's eyebrow rose.

"Doing?"

"The High Lord asked me to banish him back to this realm. It's my job after all to watch over each and every dragon." She swayed over to the chairs to sit down, her trip drained her power.

"When was this?" He was taken back when she tapped her fingers on her lip.

"Yesterday I believe"

That's all he needed to hear. He launched himself out of the window behind his desk and transformed as fast as he could which left him weak at the end. Thy began to laugh and closed the window hopping he would be away for good few days.

She grimaced and rubbed the shoulder that lighting hit her when she was flying. She didn't have time to think about herself.

She had bigger fish to fry.

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Yumi Reitenshi

Thanks you guys!

You're the greatest


	6. Chapter six

Author's note: Chapter 6 is a go!

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Chapter 6:

She took a deep breath and instantly began to choke from the sweet smelling perfume in the air. Chihiro had no idea where she was, only a few of her senses were working. She couldn't see, speak, or move. But she could defiantly tell that the room was unbearably hot and water was running. No, she was in water.

There was soft humming behind Chihiro and she felt someone braiding her hair in two thick braids. When the person was done, she heard them move to the other side of the room. Chihiro faintly heard a door slide open and a few 'gasps' before silence filled the room.

''You know your a crazy woman for doing this.'' One woman mummered before stepping into the room.

''I'll be even crazier if this works out in the end'' Chihiro immediately recognized that voice. It was Thy, the woman who saved her from being struck by lightning on her rooftop!

'' So have you figured out how you are going to hide her from Master Haku?'' A pause filled the room. Only thing that could be heard was the water swishing back and forth, it was then Chihiro decided she had to be in a bath of some kind.

''At least let me take a look at your wound, when you were passing through the bath house looking for me I could of sworn you smelt like burnt newt.''

''Thanks Lin but I'll be okay by myself; we need to take care of Chihiro for right now. You could smell her from all the way downstairs, we need to get rid of her scent as best as we can.'' Chihiro wanted to frown at the comment; she couldn't have smelt that bad?

Chihiro tried with all of her might to shift her head over and listen to the women's conversation a little better but her muscles just wouldn't budge.

''So how long till it take for her to wake up?'' The woman she now knew as 'Lin' asked. Chihiro heard tiny footsteps come closer to her and the rustling of fabric when someone kneeled down.

"I say a few days, its hard passing through to the spirit world." Thy smoothed down the girl's bangs then smiled. "I just can't wait to see how this will all end."

Chihiro finally found the strength to crack open one of her eyes. She was in a large tub build into the floor. Lilacs floated on the top of the water. She sneezed from the smell of them, the room was way to hot, humid, and _sticky_ for her lungs.

"Well looks like I was wrong about the days." Chihiro's head shot up to look up at the smiling woman clad all in stained white. Thy's hair was still disheveled from the rescue and her shoulder was still bleeding profoundly, this made her frown. What was with this woman? "Now that you're up, we can get started."

Chihiro heard a chuckle behind her; the other woman was behind her. She guessed the woman was Lin, "what's going on here?" She had to ask, Thy had officially scared the living hell out of her. Lin came closer to the girl and put a hand on her head to smooth out the little lumps of hair that fell out of her braids.

"You were banished from your world and now you are in the spirit world." Lin said in a sing song voice to the girl.

"Why was I banished?" Chihiro said, directed mostly to Thy who, began to smile. She shook her head and turned to grab the folded robe that was on the table behind her.

"The Gods weren't happy." She said simply, Thy motioned to Lin who was beginning to help Chihiro out of the bath. "So I was ordered to take you away."

"That's not really answering my question." The two women worked quickly in dressing Chihiro in the robe. They pulled the girl into the room that was just across the hall from the bathroom. Thy left the room while Lin began to unbraid Chihiro's hair, when she shook the rest of it out, it flowed out like waves.

"Don't worry about it, its rare when that girl actually answer you without ticking you off." Lin smiled a little then ran her fingers through the girls hair in a soothing manor.

"I have feeling that you are going to like it here," she teased. "You did before when Master Kohaku brought you here."

"And who is this Kohaku?" Chihiro had to ask, she has heard of him plenty of times and knew that he was a dragon but that was it. She wished someone would fill her in on more of the information.

"Do you know where we are right now?" Lin asked the girl without stopping her actions. She knew she wasn't going to answer so she continued. "Kohaku is the master of this bathhouse. He's a dragon spirit who once ruled over a river in your world which is conjoined to ours.

"I've heard of that river before, my friend Yukio took me there just last a few nights ago." Chihiro's whole mood fell; she still didn't know what happened to her friend. Lin moved away from the girl to collect the fresh meal waiting at the door. "Is there any way to contact the other realm?" Chihiro asked.

Lin snorted and didn't answer her; she brought the tray to the table in the middle of the heavily decorated room. "You know Yukio?" She said to ignore the girl's question. It should have been common sense that they could cross over whenever they want to though it drained their power to a large extinct. "Yukio is a mountain spirit close to Kohaku's river. Those two have been fighting for as long as they existed." She handed the chop sticks to Chihiro. "Now eat up, you're going to need your strength."

Chihiro quickly finished up her rice and reached for the dumplings on another tray when Thy slowly closed the door behind her. "Good you're almost done, your smell is all out of the bath house and the dragon is not back yet. We still have enough time." She said with a smile. Thy had a few trinkets in her hands which were made by the finest jewelers in the realms. "With my help, you will blend into this realm." She looked at Lin and nodded to her, in response she left the room to leave the two women alone.

Thy sat down next to Chihiro and worked on placing the necklace around her neck. It was a fairly simple piece, a jaded dragon with a marble ball in its mouth it hung on a silver chain. "I put a spell on it to hide your aura from Kohaku; you can't stay in the bath house without a job so I'm making you my new apprentice."

"Why can't Kohaku know that I'm here?" Chihiro asked in a hesitant voice, "no one has even told me where I am."

"I'm not letting him anywhere near you until you remember where you are by yourself." Thy slipped a ring on her finger. "Just remember, your name to the public is now Hiro." Chihiro nodded her head and smiled. It wouldn't be that hard after a few days right? Thy held out her hand to the girl.

"You'll be okay I promise." Thy whispered to the girl and hugged her tightly.

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Yumi Reitenshi

Come again!


	7. Chapter seven

Authors note: Here's chapter seven, I hope you all enjoy. Like I said, this son of is going to get done or my name isn't Charlie Chaplin, and it's not. So bare with me everyone and let's keep on tracking.

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Spirited Away; I would have paid for college by now.

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Chapter 7:

It was a week later when Kohaku returned to the bath house. The reason why was because the trip to the human world drained his battery and the only way to recharge peacefully was to return to his river. Nothing was out of place when he returned to his office after he flew back. It was odd to him to not have Lin in there noisily shuffling though out his desk. Kohaku let his guard down at that moment, his dark green eyes softened and really took it all in; Chihiro was actually gone. She had to be in his world now as a ghost. There was nothing that could stop them now, except for the spell that made her lose her memory of this world.

Kohaku sat down in his office chair and checked over all of the new work. Kamaji was in need of new herbs, the geisha's wanted new robes for the upcoming spring months. It wasn't much; he just wished that they actually came up to ask him instead of hastily written scripts. The knock on the door jolted his attention.

"I didn't think you would get back so soon." Thy's voice flooded the room when she stepped inside. Another girl trailed right behind her, it was someone he believed he has met before but any memories of her were fuzzy. "What did you find? Is Chihiro still on the other side?" Thy asked in a concerned voice, the girl behind her had a sparkle of laughter in her eye as if she knew something he didn't.\

"No luck," Kohaku said as he eyed the girl with fierce eyes, when she cowered back behind the Goddess. "I'm going to begin the search for her here. Is this your new apprentice?" He asked, no demanded.

Chihiro was in shock, she knew this man in some way, and his eyes reminded hers of the ones from just days ago. She stepped in front of the green haired man and admired how remarkable he actually was. His eyes were like polished diamonds behind soft, long lashes. His hair black, green shoulder length hair looked as though it was spun from the finest silk. He was magnificent, he was fearsome. "I'm chi-" She felt Thy stare daggers at her back. "My name is Hiro; I am the high Goddess's new apprentice." Chihiro bowed in honor.

Kohaku stifled a laugh, her curiosity and amazement caught him off guard. It almost shocked him when she announced herself by herself. "I am Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi the river God." He hooked his hands behind his back and leaned in closer to her. "You do not look like a dragon of any kind." It bothered him immensely that he couldn't distinguish her features; it felt as though he was looking through the eyes of a human.

"That's because she's not. I'm going to make her one." Thy spoke up between the two, she found it highly amusing that even though the two did not know who the other was. "The high lords found a new purpose for her so it's my job to get her situated." She said with a smirk. "I just ask of you to watch over her and help her along the way."

Kohaku nodded his head; he reached for her hand and gently held it between both of his. "You can ask me for anything; this is my bathhouse after all." He said then kissed her hand. He felt a connection between her already, as though he had known her for such a long time. Chihiro couldn't believe it; this was the man from her book. It was exactly how she described him in the first book.

"Thy, you were right! This is the name of the river you told me about!" The moment was ruined from Chihiro's outburst who rushed out of the room and toward hers. She needed to write this down while it was still fresh in her head. Though her life in the human world was over, it didn't mean her life as a writer was done.

Thy watched her go with wide eyes, Chihiro was defiantly a breath of fresh air. The High lord made a great choice with this one. She turned to her old apprentice, her long plaited hair spun over her shoulder. "Now that introductions are over I need to tell you something. Yukio has been banished from the human realm." If she wasn't his Goddess, she could have flinched from his glare.

"How could you let something that deadly back into this world?" He yelled at the shorter woman and instantly regretted it when he saw the deadly look flash in her hazel eyes.  
"I only follow what the High lord wants. You know this." They both knew that Yukio would be after Kohaku now. "But at least the playing field will be leveled." She tried to lighten the mood with a smile.

"And I also have you on my side." Kohaku joked back to the short woman; he spun around back to his desk and rested his palms on the well used desk. "Let him come, we'll be ready for him."

Thy could have leaped for joy, she was a lucky girl to have ever met this dragon. Here he was as the master of the bath house and the God of a great river, it wouldn't be much longer for him to not need her around she thought. Not much longer at all.

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Yumi Reitenshi-

Thank you all! I hope you're still reading and enjoying.


	8. Chapter eight

Author's note: Hello everyone who is not reading (I know I suck,) here's chapter 8. As I said, I'm trucking through this time. If I make any mistakes or stop posting again please forgive me. It's just that school is starting back up again for me tomorrow and free time is as sparse as water in the desert. I know I had to be the busy bee of the school right? Enjoy!

Wait! Hold up! I just remembered something, am I the only one who now believes that Chihiro's parents ate people at the restaurant?

Disclaimer: I wish Spirited away had a sequel, and then there would be more of Miyazaki to love.

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Chapter 8:

_"You've got to try this, it's so tender."_

_"Don't worry you got daddy here, he's got credit cards and cash."_

_"…That's weird, it's a bath house."_

Chihiro awoken with a fright, it's been a long time since she had that dream. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and wasn't surprised that her hands were wet. Everyone told her it's was a coping mechanism from her parents death. She growled almost out of anger and started her daily morning routine of getting up and making her bed. The workers may have treated her like royalty but that didn't mean she was going to let them do everything for her. Besides, it was only high noon, no one would be up she said to herself.

It didn't take her long to dress in the simple purple tunic and white trousers Lin had provided her, not even brushing out her waist length brown hair took as long as she thought it would. Chihiro quickly tied it into a pony tail with her tie and set off towards the door, it was the only time she wasn't being watched by Thy or Lin so it was time to roam around.

Chihiro walked to the end of the hall and waited for pulled the lever for the elevator. She stomped her foot impatiently, it was a good idea to start with the top floor and work her way down. There was no telling how many there actually were.

_Ding _

She almost jumped when the elevator made it to her floor. She stepped inside and pulled the lever up. It took mere moments for it to stop on the top floor. Chihiro looked left and right, there was that familiar feeling again. Her body told her to go right but it was closed off. The heavy looking doors were bolted shut and the house light wasn't on.

"Those are Yubaba's quarters; she only comes once a month to check on things." A voice behind her made her jump. When Chihiro turned, it surprised her that Kohaku was the one who said it. "Sorry to frighten you, I just didn't expect someone to be up in the morning, Hiro." He to her hand and pulled her back towards the elevator. "Since you're up, come have breakfast with me." He said as a comment and not a question. The worst part was that he said it with a smile on his face, this girl intrigued him, and it was almost as if he has met her before.

Chihiro knew the second that he grabbed her that he had incredible strength. Even without trying to, he guided her back to the elevators. "I don't think the kitchen will mind if we raid it." He sarcastically chuckled and forced the lever down.

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"Where do you hail from?" Chihiro's chopsticks stopped halfway towards her face. The eggs practically slid off the slender wood. Kohaku's question caught her off guard.

"Osaka?"

His eyebrow rose, he didn't know if to take that as a joke or a real answer. "Something told me that you weren't a spirit." Kohaku took a healthy bite of his rice ball. He nearly choked on it when she began to laugh.

"How did you get here?" He asked next, there were numbers of ways people ended up on his doorsteps.

Chihiro's smile softened. "My world didn't want me anymore." She said with a grimace, "it was a hard life after my parents passed. I made it as an author but it wasn't what I was searching for." She said with a sigh, her breakfast had now chilled and unappealing. "Then one night, my apartment blew away. The next thing I know, I wake up here as Thy's apprentice."

Kohaku just listened to her story, wishing she gave more than that. He flicked the crumbs off of his fingers.

"How did you get here?" Chihiro said in a almost teasing way. Her face was flushed when he brushed his fingertips close to her mouth to remove the lingering rice.

"Once you you come up with a better question, then I'll answer it. Do we have a deal?" Kohaku couldn't help himself. "You know where to find me." He left without even getting her answer.

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Yumi Reitenshi-

Sorry if this chapter was short. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue because I'm not getting any feedback. We'll see though, I'll probably post again by the end of the week and again next Monday since it's a holiday. Other than that, stay cool everybody.


	9. Chapter nine

Author's note: Yay! I'm ecstatic that I have readers! You all made my day so very much. I actually had time to do an extra chapter this week because of a snow day (yes, there are snow days in college!)

Thank you to **filly8**, your criticism was just what I needed and I am defiantly going to take them to heart.

A thank you to the mysterious **()**, I hope I can keep you in wonder for a while longer.

Thank you to **milk tea ()** for pointing out the "shave ice," I have a tendency of writing in past tense and I apologize.\\

Last but not least, thank you to **Zeldahaterlinkluvr**; I will make it my job and duty to check out your stories as soon as you put them up.

Disclaimer: In my dreams I own "Spirited Away," in reality, I do not.

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Chapter 9:

"That's not fair!" Chihiro followed him out of the kitchen; she didn't catch sight of him but had a good idea where he would be. She quickened her pace to catch him before the elevator went up.

Kohaku's eyes widened at how close the girl was but even then he couldn't see all of her features. They stayed that way the entire way up, him trapped against the wall and her blocking his exit.

Chihiro didn't let her emotions run wild; he was so close that it would be so easy to touch his lips to hers.

_Don't be afraid, I just want to help you._

Chihiro's eyes glazed over, it was a passage in her book but yet it felt as though she lived it. But that couldn't be true; it was just a coping mechanism for her parent's death. That's what the psychiatrists told her countless of times. Hell, that's what multiple fans of her books told her time and time again.

Kohaku gave her a strange look. "What did you say?" That snapped her out of it.

"I said, how did you know Thy?" She said then flinched, even to her ears it sounded like a lie. Kohaku put a hand on her shoulder to turn her. With a small push he guided her out of the elevator.

Kohaku didn't care which floor they were on because no one would hear the conversation the two had. "About 18 years ago, this bath house was run by a witch named Yubaba, she controlled her workers by stealing their names. An old friend of mine helped me find my name and from then on I've taken care of it carefully." He paused for a second; it was nice idly walking around without a trouble in the world. "With her help, I manage to free myself from Yubaba's clutches for good but I felt as though she owed me for all of my hard work. So we worked out a deal. I own this place until her son comes to age. From then on she just checks in to make sure our profit is still up."

Chihiro listened to his every word; she stopped when he stopped talking and put her hands on her hips. "That doesn't explain how you met Thy."

He could have cursed himself; it was just too easy to get carried away with the woman in front of him. He smiled to himself and continued walking without her, he casually folded his arms behind his back and didn't even wait for her.

"You didn't let me get there yet."

Chihiro had no other choice than to follow him. "Please go on, I'm sorry."

"Thy is the Goddess who protect all dragon spirits. I had to rebuild my river because I didn't feel complete without it. Though I don't see why she asked you to be her apprentice." He said as a joke. His emerald eyes glanced over at her, it didn't make any sense to him at all.

Chihiro had the same question on her mind.

They walked in a comfortable silence and before they knew it, they were back at the elevator. He had to get back to work and she had to find Thy for her daily training. It was going to be a busy day for the both of them.

"Master Kohaku! We have a problem." Chihiro almost leapt out of her skin when she saw a frog hop closer to them, it was even more startling when she witness him talk.

Kohaku kneeled down to his level and took the partial from his webbed fingers, he snapped the ribbon that tied it together and glanced over it. In an instant his face hardened. "Go wake Thy and the foreman. We have troubles on our hands." Chihiro did not even have a chance to get a word out of her mouth before he took off down the hall and towards the stairs.

"Wait Kohaku!" Chihiro cupped her mouth so that he could hear. "What's a foreman?"

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Yumi Reitenshi-

So how was that? I know it was a tad on the short side but from what I learned from English is that, it's not about quantity, it's about quality. Maybe I'm just a sucky writer! Well I'm off to bed, It's been a long day.


	10. Chapter ten

Authors note: Wow, I love snow days because I'm catching up on everything I really needed to do. Just to warn you all, I won't be able to update this coming weekend because my marine friends are kidnapping me so that I can babysit them on their drinking escapades. I'll try to squeeze another chapter into this week and if not look for chapter 11 on late Tuesday early Wednesday. Now to the "thank you:"

A big hearty thank you goes out to **filly8**; you by far are the best beta ever! If it wasn't for you, this story would have gone into the trash.

Thank you to **KatKat 376 **for alerting my story.

Last but not least, thank you to **soccergirl 12** for the favorite.

Wait! Another thing I've noticed! In the movie, Kohaku's dragon side is blue and white correct; he is wearing the same color as his outfit also. So my question for you is: Does his dragon color change with the outfit or is the same each time?

Disclaimer: Do you think Miyazaki is adopting?

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Chapter 10:

"When is he planning to strike Master Kohaku?"

The office was in complete silence before the Foreman spoke, Chihiro could have cut the tension in the room with a knife. She sat next to Thy which was a big mistake because the Goddess was ignoring the whole conversation. They all decided to deal with this problem after closing hours of the bath house but even now no one came up with a good idea of how to stop Yukio.

"He didn't say there's a good chance he'll attack the river first." Thy said, her eyes were glazed over and her nails racked over her chin as she thought.

"Over my dead body." Kohaku murmured under his breath without even thinking about it.

Chihiro cringed; she didn't want the spirits that she had just met to go to war with a dear friend of hers. "Is there any other way around this?" She asked in a small, hesitant voice and when Kohaku glared at her she shrunk down as much as she could in her seat.

Thy put up her hand "Kohaku stop it, you're scaring the poor girl." She stood and circled Chihiro's chair. "The two will always be at war; water and earth are two strong elements that need a lot of room to survive." She said while caressing the scared girl's shoulders. "I just hope when the second river is finished there won't be any more problems." Thy looked over at Kohaku who was practically ripping his desk apart with his fingertips.

The Foreman bowed his head, "just in case I will prepare the bath house for the possible attack." He took his departure and left the three alone to contemplate what they will do.

Kohaku eyed daggers at his mistress. "When is your lover coming to finish me off for good?" He asked Thy in a voice filled with venom.

"What happened to "let him come, we'll be ready for him?"" Thy let go of the girl's shoulders before she did any real damage. "Besides, that had nothing to do with what's going on in the near future."

"You'd be surprised, he's the reason why I can't enjoy my freedom in peace, you're the reason why I had contact with Chihiro again, and he's the reason why I can't find her anywhere. The control's out of my hands and it's your fault." He could have screamed that at the grey haired girl in front of him. But the thing that bothered him the most was that she stood their calm, cool, and collected.

"Well guess what Kohaku river. You're the reason why I'm trapped here." Thy spun on heel and left his office, she used her magic to open the door and to slam it close.

_I've tried everything to remember mine, but for some reason I remember yours._

Chihiro's eyes glazed over from the memory, since the last one they have become more vivid. But that wasn't what struck her as odd, what did was that Thy had relations with the man she called friend in the human world. She heard Kohaku stand from his seat and over to the book shelf on the other side of the room.

"Great, she's mad at me." She heard him say whist fingering through the collection of books. "I hate it when I can't through to her."

"What did she mean when she said she was trapped?" Chihiro asked the man, he stopped what he was doing to turn to her.

Kohaku shook his head, "I don't know, I never signed a contract with her and she leaves whenever she wants." His voice softened and his anger dissipated, he couldn't be angry with her around. He rubbed his temple while still scanning the books. "I'm going to put a protective spell on the bath house, while I'm doing that can you find Thy and calm her down?"

Chihiro nodded her head and went to leave; she stopped in her tracts when she heard his last statement.

"Who are you really?"

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Lin stifled a laugh when Chihiro finished her story; she didn't even go to seek out the Goddess and instead went to Lin's personal room and woke Lin out of her peaceful slumber.

"Really? Kohaku is flustered about that? Here I thought he was a mighty dragon." She said and continued laughing. Chihiro sighed out; this girl had a sick sense of humor.

"How's the memory coming along?" Lin's sudden switch startled her, Chihiro almost forgot about what happened with her today.

"I had three flash backs today but all of them are from my story so I do not know if it's real or not." She thought the floor was fascinating when she said that, she couldn't look at the girl. "I never knew it would be so difficult."

"Don't push them away Sen, they are real. Trust me, I lived them with you." Lin bit back a yawn, it was a long day of preparing, there was news that a very wealthy and powerful Sky God was coming in a few days with his son and everything had to be perfect.

Chihiro instantly felt sorry for waking the girl up, but she needed someone to talk to that instant. She could feel the sleep coming to her as well. "Well good morning Lin, I will see you when the lanterns come back on." She heard the girl laugh when she closed the door.

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Yumi Reitenshi-

Looky looky, another chapter on a snowy day! I love snow days because it reminds me of my home town, I miss Buffalo a lot but I'm glad to be a Penn Stater.


	11. Chapter eleven

Author's note: Hello everyone! Sorry for updating later than I said, I've been having boy and roommate issues which I hope to solve before it gets out of hand. So if any of you have any tips for a girl on how to actually talk to the male species; please email me asap! The roommate thing I have because she's just being a selfish (&)itch who needs to learn that Gay bullying, or any bulling is wrong. She's in the wrong and my other roommates and I weren't going to let it slide. It was a conversation and she turned it into an argument. She hasn't talked to the two of them for three days and to me since last night. Quite frankly I don't care and the sooner she moves out the happier I am. Maybe I'll actually get work done :D, so to my readers; are we in the wrong? Because the only thing she had to do was say something instead of keeping quiet and smiling. I've lost so many people to bulling and the number rises each and every day. Hell, I've been bullied a lot when I was a kid because I didn't live with my family for some periods of time. We just asked her to say something but she didn't. She's pissed at us for standing up for our friends and not going along with the popular kids a couple of tables over. (By the way, we're in college people, there are no popular tables or true gangs, and she's bringing the high school drama with her.) I know those kids, I cursed them out and it was nipped in the butt quickly, she's getting snippy with everyone. But enough of her, it's going to be great to kick her out.

Thank you!:

Thank you to **Soccergirl 12** for the favorite story! It makes me excited that someone actually likes my work; I know this is a cliché story but I'm trying my best.

Another thank you to **Zeldahaterlinkluvr (for** the review, I'll get to reading your work soon; things have just been hectic in my life.

Thank you also to **Ohshcinugirl **for the story alert, I'm going to get back on my game soon.

Thanks to a mangaanimefan4eva** for the favorite author and alert, it means the world to me**

Last but not least, thank you to **Zanthian123** for the favorite story and the story alert, it's because of you guys that I'm finishing it this time.

Disclaimer: I wish I could own Spirited Away, but ringing a selfish (&)itch's neck sounds more pleasant this week.

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Chapter 11:

It was days later before Chihiro actually saw the high Goddess and Kohaku in the same room at different times, and it took an extra few days for them to glance each other's way. The spell that both of them place on the bath house was so strong that she could practically taste it, it would take the mountain spirit days to break it. She watched the two glares at one another while they were working on another protection spell. Thy had mentioned to her before they had started that it was suppose to warn them if a trespasser came into the bath house. Thy popped him on the forehead, "you're doing it wrong; at the rate you're going everyone will be pigs."

"Well if you would speak up, I may actually understand what you're saying." Kohaku said in a harsh voice at her while rubbing the spot where she had hit him. "Besides, it would not be any difference if you began to snort." That comment earned him another smack and there was nothing he could do about it. Chihiro decided not to watch anymore because she had a gut feeling that it wasn't going to end well. The silver haired girl made her sit in on the session so that she could understand what it took to create the wonderful things in this world.

She wanted to get out of the stuffy spell room and help Lin with their prestige guest. It wasn't every day that the sky God came to the baths.

The two Gods didn't say anything when she left the room and when Kohaku heard the snap of the door he turned to the smaller woman. "Hiro, where does she hail from?" He asked her as though they haven't feuded for days.

"I'm not going to answer that, ask her yourself." Thy spun her fingers around the white ball of light in her hand, yielding it to grow.

Kohaku stood from the rugs and rounded his mistress. "This isn't fair, have I done something for you to treat me like this?" This was the one time that Thy had seen his shield fall, "I don't know if I'm strong enough to do this by myself and you're not helping one bit." She could feel and taste the warm tear drop on the back of her neck where her plait didn't cover. This time she may have taken it too far.

Thy turned to face him, "I'm going to give you a word of advice- now don't interrupt me." She put her hand up just as he opened his mouth. "Talk to Hiro, you'll see things that weren't there before." She couldn't help but smile at the frustrated sigh he let out. Kohaku still wondered why she did this to him.

"You're talking in riddles once again." He flicked the silver plait over her shoulder and gave both of them a squeeze.

"I know I'm a fickle person but trust me," Thy turned her body, the hazel in her eyes twinkled in mischief "the day that I leave for good will be the day everything will make sense." She almost cried out in pain when his nails dug into her shoulder.

Dragons never knew their own strength.

"Master Kohaku!" The two turned to the skull phone which was buzzing like crazy, at that moment the doors began to rattle also. Haku groaned and walked towards the skull.

"What's going on down there?"

The skull chattered. "The north wind didn't enjoy the pampering like his father." It was still for a few moments before going on. "His father is furious, we can't find him on this floor, and he's already caused a ruckus!"

Kohaku tightened his obi then nodded to the woman who was picking herself up off the ground.

Thy put the ball of energy down."Well, there goes that project." He couldn't hold back the chuckle and launched out of the door to aid in the search. He knew his staff very well; they were all talk and no action. Thy waited a few moments before going the other way down the hall; this was another floor that no one came up to unless it was for business. It was right under Yubaba's and Kohaku's quarters so it was understandable.

While she walked the doors rattled around her. It surprised Thy that this certain spirit moved so fast. She couldn't let her guard down for even a second. An unsympathetic breeze lifted her heavy kimono off of the ground which she had to catch before it went too high. She knew he was laughing at her.

"Shit!" The man tumbled out of thin air, he fell back a few more feet before meeting the wall where he knocked his head into and slumped foreword. The poor boy was knocked out.

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Thy knelt down to the boy's level and trailed her fingers over his pale blue skin. This one was definitely an odd one, his hair color had almost matched hers but it was wispy as if made by clouds themselves. She called Kohaku to tell him that he and Lord Ruu could come up to lug the irresponsible man back to their room for the day. Thy stopped moving when she felt him shiver. He opened his pure white eyes and smiled handsomely. "You really have a mean right hook you know." He pushed the small girl away to get his bearings in check, "I was really having fun before you came around."

In that split second he moved again, the North wind was gone. Usually Thy could spot even the smallest of movements but he was different, he didn't manipulate the air with magic, he _was_ the wind. She heard him coming from the back and before he landed his attack she grabbed him out of thin air by the neck.

"You need to learn to pay attention, your focus is off." Thy tried to say without any emotion in her voice, she had the right mind to put a curse on him for what he has done.

The man struggled but each time he did her grip would tighten. He tried to claw at her hands and when that didn't work he quit at it.

It was then that he noticed what she was, from the untrained eye. What many would see was another human being; from up close he saw the slit in her hazel eyes, the scales which layered her skin which were packed so tightly and small that it fit like a glove. It was then also, that he knew he was in trouble.

Not only was he in the clutches of a dragon, another one had just walked off of the elevator. His father was trailing right behind him. He was an old spirit who was worn down from age, the fat God was well dressed in the finest blue silks found in the spirit world, all of his fingers sported some kind of ring, and his son was nothing like him who opted for simple pants.

"Akihiko, what were you thinking?" The blue boy was thankful when Thy let him go. He turned to his father. "First you disturb the tranquility of this bath house, and then you torment a celestial being."

Akihiko's whole body stiffened when he heard that, his father had more to say to him but stopped short when he heard Kohaku 'clear his throat.'

Lord Ruu pulled the boy up by his arm, "let's go before you start anything else." He bowed to the spirits before vanishing into the wind. Akihiko turned to the dragons and bowed also.

"Thank you for the hospitality, I'll be back soon." He then too vanished.

Kohaku saw Thy jump out of the corner of his eye. The silver hair which was always braded ever since he had met her was now lying on the floor. Thy reached up to touch the now shoulder length end.

"Thy-"

She didn't say a thing; Thy walked passed him as if she not had a care in the world. She switched the elevator upwards and that was the last he saw of her that night. He did hear the heavy oak door slam though.

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It was a long night for the workers after what had happened. Lord Ruu showered them with gold for everything that had went wrong but that didn't mean they didn't have to clean up.

The tubs were positively filthy; many of the screens were knocked over. It would take a lot of negotiating with the carpenters to fix up some of the cracked art which tumbled over. The workers were lucky that Kohaku decided to close tomorrow night.

Chihiro and Lin were on their hands and knees scrubbing out the big tub. It was 12 years ago all over again. Today she had another flash back of Kohaku being plain nasty to her.

"Are you sure he doesn't have a twin?" Every time she asked, Lin would laugh and shake her head. They had been working on this particular tub for most of the evening and the sun was breaking over the horizon. The salmon clad woman called it quits for tonight; they would work on it on another date. She rushed Chihiro to the lift and yawned her way back to her quarters. It didn't take her long to reach her door. Chihiro almost missed the note hanging there.

_Meet me at the bridge_

_Kohaku-_

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Yumi Reitenshi~

Sorry this chapter is a little late, as I said I had a hectic couple of weeks. I'm still trying to get her but out of my apartment. Well that and my school's annual talent show is coming up which I am really excited about.

Also! Before I forget, if I go hiatus for a while please do not get angry, I'm having some knee problems and surgery is looking like a must right now. So please forgive me! I love you guys, you make my day each and every time!

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AKIHIKO (明彦): "bright prince."


	12. Chapter twelve

Author's note: Oh my gosh I am so sorry I haven't posted anything! My computer crashed a few weeks ago and things became a little hectic. But don't worry because I'll try to make this a double feature. But hey, at least I got a new computer out of this entire fiasco (HP DV6 baby!) So without further stalling, here's chapter 12, I'll try to get chapter 13 up before my birthday but that is a slim chance to none.

Okay, now that the author's note is out of the way, let's move on to the thank you:

Thank you to **D Walka **for the favorite and alert, I hope to make you proud!

Thank you to **animegirl1994** for the triple whammy, it made my day.

You're awesome **spirited away forever** for another triple whammy.

**Animeloverxxx**, great triple whammy, and your alerts.

**Haku lover**, **xionrules76321**, **BarbieGirlDolls100**, **alexisshadow101 **for the love and the alerts.

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing except for the clothes on my back.

Oh wait! I have a question, when pulling the allegiant thorn; Chihiro falls almost all the time but she keeps herself steady to pull out the fish hook. Made no sense! And yes, I do watch the movie every time I write a chapter.

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Chapter 12:

The sun was just rising when Chihiro closed the door to her designated door. She flipped her journal under her arm and walked towards the elevators. Kohaku was going to drill her for answers so she had the right to do the same. The whole time she wrote down what was going on whist in the spirit world. This time, maybe he would give her straight answers.

It wasn't a long trip down the empty bath house but Chihiro couldn't stand it. Though she have been staying here for more than a month now; she couldn't help but get up during the day when all of the other spirits were sleeping. Guess old habits die hard.

She shaded her eyes when walking outside. It amazed her that it didn't take long for the sun to come up or set. In just a few seconds it could turn from day to night here, it wasn't like home at all. A flash of white flew out of the sky and Chihiro ran to catch it. She knew should have been afraid but in her gut, something told her to trust it.

Chihiro stopped at the beginning of the bridge.

_You've got to hold your breath when crossing the bridge._

This memory flooded her mind with so much force she had to hold her head. It wasn't like the others which were flashbacks. This one she felt each and every detail. She clutched a boy's arm as hard as she could in fear of losing him in the crowd. Her parents had turned into pigs and she needed help immediately.

"You can come across; I promise I won't hurt you." Kohaku's voice snapped Chihiro out of her trance. He had changed out of his dragon form and was waiting on the other side. He chuckled at her spaced out appearance but began to worry when she didn't cross the bridge. "Is something troubling you?"

"Master Haku." She said in a wispy voice when drifting off again, Chihiro didn't want to believe it but it was true.

Kohaku's ears perked up to the name. "I don't go by that name anymore unless from close friends." He only tolerated Lin, Kamajii, and Thy. Chihiro also if she ever returned. When the girl didn't respond, he used his magic to appear an inch in front of her instead of walking the whole length. "How did you know that name?" He leaned down to look in her eyes. Even though he was this close he couldn't tell the color.

Still in a daze Chihiro lifted her hand to cradle his cheek. "It's all real, I wasn't going crazy." Even when bending down her was still taller than her, she stood in her toes to softly kiss his bottom lip. "I thought I would never see you again." Kohaku gripped her shoulders to push her back. He was flabbergasted that she would even do something like that.

"Don't do that." Kohaku closed his eyes as if he was in pain, he didn't need this distraction. She was probably just another witch trying to screw with his head. It was best that he ignored the spark that went through him after one peck.

She didn't get it; she thought he would be happy that she remembered. Wasn't that what Thy had said? "But."

A fierce growl erupted from his throat which chilled her to the bone. "Stop it, you're not her. She's gone for good, and now I want you out of the bath house. You may have fooled my mistress but you won't trick me." Kohaku released her then turned around.

_Thank you Haku, you are a good friend._

"I'll be coming back in a few days; if you are still here then I will kill you without any mercy." Chihiro couldn't match up to his long strides; she stopped though when he turned into a dragon right before her eyes. She reached out to touch him.

"But Haku!" She flinched back when he snapped at her. It didn't take him long to become airborne.

She couldn't stop the tears from falling.

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She didn't care if the Goddess was sleeping; she needed answers now. The door slammed open when she entered Thy's suite. "What did you do?"

"Good morning to you to Chihiro." Thy staggered out of her room without her usual pose. Her now shorter hair was disheveled since she still had no idea how to style it. She scratched her head and looked at the girl with disinterest. "What did I do this time?"

"I spoke to Haku on my own today, he told me to leave this place and to never return. He thinks I am a witch." Chihiro wanted to strangle the girl. More tears fell from her eyes. "He said that he was going to kill me next time."

Thy stood there and listened. "Well that would be unwise on his part." She said mostly to herself and not to him. "Why don't you take the necklace off?" She began to really wake up, now noticing that she said 'Haku' Thy guessed she remembered her time here in the past.

"Why? So he'll kill me at first glance?" Chihiro sniffled.

Thy rolled her eyes. "He'll be back soon after he calms down, stop your belly aching." She hugged the girl closer to her. "Kohaku has a lot of love for you and will understand." Thy unclasped the necklace from around Chihiro's neck. The aura around her solidified her normal one. From Thy's point of view she glowed a faint pink. "There we go." She said with a smile. Chihiro thanked her.

If the two were actually paying attention, they would have noticed pure white eyes staring in from the window. Akihiko smirked; the God of luck was looking down on him. Yukio would like this information.

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~Yumi Reitenshi

I have a confession, I'm a review whore. So if anyone is still reading then I would appreciate it!


	13. Chapter thirteen

Author's note: I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a bat's age but a lot of things have been coming up. Firstly, my Mom had a possible stroke, and then finals tried to kill me. My cat that I've had for 16 years passed away. I'm in the process of moving from one apartment to another, the roommates I have now don't want me to move and I still need to find two more for my new place (maybe.) Finally I'm now in Ireland and the weather reminds me of home, home; Buffalo, New York. It's great out here and I never want to leave, everyone's happy, the beer is great, and the sense of humor is hysterical. If you want to see pictures from my trip just ask for my facebook name. Alright, no more stalling, time to start the show!

Thank you!

Disclaimer: Got a question for you, why in the world did Haku eat the seal?

Chapter 13:

Birds of every shape and size swarmed the bathhouse when mid day hit. But what freaked Chihiro out the most was that all of them, including the paper ones, had a human face and long noses.

Yubaba and Granny were coming to check the new aura in the bathhouse. It was something they both recognized but haven't smelt in a long time. 12 years has passed since the last time Chihiro first stepped into the realm with her parents. Though to her it felt as though nothing has changed since she had gotten her memories back.

The only thing different was that Kohaku was running the place.

"Yubaba wants to see you in her office." Lin whispered through the crack in the door then closed the door to Chihiro's room; she had other work to do and knew Chihiro was safe in a room with Yubaba by herself. She hurriedly threw on her robes which were mostly hues of blue and violet. Chihiro took a deep breath and left her room. Her mind continually went back to thinking about Kohaku, he was only gone for a few hours but it felt to her as years. She'd just connected to her childhood friend this morning and he pushed her away; that stupid, stubborn dragon.

It didn't take her long to reach Yubaba's office; she even remembered to know on the door. But never the less she was pulled in by her shirt and collapsed in front of the fireplace just like the first time.

"Still didn't stick the landing?" Yubaba's voice crackled in the air as she drew the curtains open. She had brought along Boa as surprise.

"Sen!" The young man shouted, still not learning to use his inside voice. Okay, maybe everything wasn't the same as her first visit to the bathhouse. She didn't think it was possible, but Boa grew to be even bigger since the last time she saw him. He wasn't a baby anymore and his head was just mere inches away from the ceiling.

"Boa, quiet." Yubaba ordered without even looking at him. "It's time to get to business, you can play later." She said in a softer voice before speaking to Chihiro again. "How did you get here this time?"

Zeniba just shook her head and ordered one of the frogs waiting just outside to bring her tea.

"I was banished from my own world." Chihiro stated without any trouble, after her parent's passed away. Chihiro never really felt as though she had a home of her own until she returned back to the spirit world. "Thy is the only reason why I got here safely." She said with a smile.

Yubaba scoffed, "stupid spirit, she's the reason I'm not in charge of the bath house." Zeniba and Boa both gave her a look of horror for what she just said. "What?" She snapped at the two. "Yes she may be one of the great Gods but she's still a pawn. Nothing more nothing less, and even when Kohaku broke his apprenticeship with me to return to his world, that no good spirit didn't do a thing for him and made him take a job he never wanted." Yubaba was so heated from what she just said; her eyes were bulging from out of her head. Chihiro felt a little uncomfortable, Zeniba stepped in.

"Chihiro, why don't you tell me about your time back home?" She asked in her motherly voice.

"After I left here I've forgotten my whole visit but I always knew something happened. I started school and really became a normal kid. I learned to always keep my heart a little softer than my head." She smiled at the thought. "And I kept a better eye on my parents." She folded her hands in her lap. "I really began writing at the age of 15 and started getting published in college in our newsletters but t he big time hit when I turned 21 and my first book became the best seller."

Zeniba came to her to give her a kiss on the cheek and a cup of tea. "How wonderful." She even noticed that the woman still had the hair tie she had made for her years ago.

"But then my parents passed away and I never really wanted to write again. Though they laughed at my dreams they still fueled me on no matter what. My company demanded that I do a sequel to the first one and I had not a clue what to write so I began making it up as I went. But then the spark finally died and I resented it. That's how I met my friend Yukio." She paused when she heard Zeniba gasp. "I know I know he's an enemy of Haku but he's a friend of mine, a dear friend and he's only been nice to me." She shook her head. When Zeniba tried to comfort her she flinched away. "Both of them are in grave danger and there's nothing I can do about it. I miss Yukio and our conversations. But I cannot allow him to hurt Haku." She said with the upmost strength in her voice.

"Yukio has been corrupted someway somehow. He doesn't have compassion as some of us and he needs to be put into his place." Yubaba butted into their conversation. "Nothing good has ever come out of that boy."

Chihiro shook her head completely disagreeing with her statement. "Then you really do not know him! He was my first true friend after my first visit here in the spirit realm. He never told me to get my heads out of clouds! He's the one who cheered me on without hesitation!" When Zeniba reached out to the girl she avoided the touch. Quickly Chihiro spun towards the door and raced out to evade Granny's concerned face or her sister's next snarky comment.

Chihiro raced down the hall as if the spirits were actually chasing her. She didn't even become aware of the small hard body she crashed into, small delicate arms reached out to steady the girl before she fell to the ground.

Thy, tried as she may to wipe the smile off her face when she let go of Chihiro. "In a hurry?" She was not ready for Chihiro to grab her kimono and bury her head into her shoulder.

"It's not fair! Why can't they get along?" Thy didn't know immediately of who she was talking about since the girl just came from the twin witches but understood after a few moments of silence.

"That may be my fault; I should have never let two powerful beings build their territory so close together." The dragon tried to comfort Chihiro the best way possible.

"Why do you make so many mistakes?" Chihiro shouted at the dragon, her fury at last got the better of her. "You always believe you're helping the cause but you never have!" She broke out of Thy's grasp and ran down the hall. The girl didn't realize the hall became longer until she got to the elevator and by then it was too late, the button to open the door was too high to reach. Thy shrunk her down to the size of an ordinary netsuke.

"I think it's time for you to take a trip. You've been spending too much time in the bath house." Thy commented when she reached down to pick up the girl and slipped her into her sleeve. "Come on." The dragon straightened out her clothes then turned her attention to the golden double doors for Zeniba and Boa stepped out.

The witch smiled tiredly to the dragon. "Your wards are some of the strongest I've ever seen. They will keep back any attack." Her eyebrows furred. "You're the only one who truly knows what he is capable of. Would he strike the bath house?"

Chihiro couldn't believe her ears when she heard Thy's reply. All of her remorse for her friend dissipated in that one moment. Yukio never cared for her; she was just a pawn in his own game. She felt Thy slip her into Zeniba's gown pocket smoothly without the witch even noticing. 'At least I complied with Haku's wishes' she wickedly thought to herself whilst the witch said her goodbyes to everyone.

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~Yumi Reitenshi

Hey you guys! Thank you for everyone's review, I'm going to make my shout outs in my next chapter. My Brain farts have been cured and by next week the next chapter should be up!


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